Litter-carrier.



H. B. HESTER.

LITTER CARRIER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, 1914.

Patented Jul 25, 1916.

2 $HEETSSHEET I s a a \N w M 3 J ml/ 1 M Patented July 25, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Inventor Q Attorneys Witnesses I larged side elevation of the grab. Fig. 3; is

HENRY B. HESTER, OF NEW HAVEN, INDIANA.

LITTER-CARRIER. y

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 25, 1916.

Application filed November 20, 1914. Serial No. 873,183.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, 'HENRY B. 'HEsTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New Haven, in the county of Allen and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Litter-Carrier, of which the following is a specification.

.This invention relates .to litter carriers, hay loaders, and other like forms of hoisting apparatus, the same being designed more especially as'an improvement upon the structure disclosed in Patent N 0. 1,039,737 issuedto me on October 1, 1912.

One of the objects of the invention is to increase the durability and efficiency of the carrier and to provide means whereby the apparatus can be used in connection with a supporting cable or with a wagon or other vehicle on whichit may bemounted."

A further object is to provide a grab havlng improved means for releasing the load automatically when the grab israised to a predetermined point.

Another object is to provide improved mechanism for actuating the grab so as to raise and lower it.

l/Vith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it bein understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In saiddrawingsz-Figure 1 is aside elevation of the apparatus combined with a supporting truck or wagon. Fig. 2 is an ena section through a portion of the grab and showing the relative positions of the parts during the release of the load. Flg. 4 1s a section through a portion of the grab, said section being taken on the line A B F g. 3. Fig. 5 is a section on the line O-D Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a section on line E-F Fig. 1.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates a standard which may be tubular, this standard being provided at its upper end with a bracket 2 secured thereto in any suitable manner and including spaced bearings 3 to which is journaled a shaft 4. One of these bearings is pro-.

vided at the inner end of an arm 5 which is tubular and which is held in proper position relative to the standard 1 by a brace 6. Thus it will be seen that the standard 1 and the arm 5 together with the brace 6 can be used as a crane by placing the lower end of the standard 1 upon a post 7 upstanding from a vehicle asshown in Fig. 1. Forexample this post can be mounted on a table 8 mounted to rotate on a vehicle body 9, a ballast supporting arm 10 being extended from the table in a direction opposite to that in which the arm 5 extends. The outer end of the ballast supporting arm may be connected by a stay cable 11 to a collar 12 mounted on a short post 13 upstanding from and removably mounted upon the inner end portion of the arm 5. It is to be understood of course that the standard 1 is to be held against rotation on post 7 in any suitable manner, as by means of a set screw 14:.

Projecting upwardly from the arm 5 adjacent the ends thereof are brackets 15 each of which carries a grooved wheel 16 designed to travel along a supporting cable when the post 1 and arm 5 are used independently of a structure as shown in Fig. 1.

Secured to the inner end portion of shaft 4 is a sprocket 17 adapted to receive motion through a chain 18 from a sprocket 19 which can be actuated by a crank 20 or in any other suitable manner, this sprocket 19 being supported upon the lower portion of the post 1 where the crank 20 can be reached c011- A hanger 26 extends from the outer end of 9 arm 5 and is provided at its lowerend with a foot 27 constituting a tripping element. A'grab operating cable 28 is secured at one end to one of the drums 25 and its outer end is adapted to be secured either to drum 21 or to the other drum 25. Obviously when the chain 18 is actuated by means of the crank 20 or by a power driven pulley 29, shaft 4 will be actuated and motion will be transmitted therefrom directly to the drum 21 and, through the worm gearing to the drums 25. These drums 25 will of course be rotated at a much lower speed than the drum 21 and, therefore, should the two ends of cable 28 be attached to the two drums 25,. the time required to wind and unwind the cable would be much longer than that required should one end of the cable 28 be attached to the drum 21.

As has heretofore been pointed out, the apparatus thus far described can be mounted on a turntable 8 carried by a wagon or other vehicle, or,'if preferred, the standard 1 may be detached from post 7 and collar 12 may be detached from post 13, said post being disconnected from arm 5. The wheels 16 can then be placed on a supporting cable and the arm 5and the depending hanger will thus form a carriage adapted to travel along the supporting cable.

The grab used 1n connection withthe apparatus thus far described has been illustrated in detail in Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive. This grab includes a head 30 having downwardlyextending side strips 31 which are secured, at their lower ends, to parallel bottom strips 32 which can be connectedin any desired manner. A bracket 33 is secured upon head 30 and carries a sheave 34 which is engaged by the looped cable 28.

A slide 35 is mounted below head 30 and between the side strips 31 and is secured at the upper end of a bar 36 having ratchet teeth 37 formed along opposed edges thereof,

Ithese teeth being arranged in staggered re lation. Spring controlled pawls 38 are pivotally mounted between the bottomstrips 32 and normally engage the toothed faces of the bar 36 so as thus to hold the bar against downward movement within the frame a transverse pin 42, for holding them against relative movement. The outer end of each arm 41 is connected by an elongated link43 to the head 30 and extending downwardly from each arm 41'is an arcuate tine 44 which can be held fixed relative to arm 41 by means 7 of a brace 45. Each link 43 can be provided with a series of apertures 46 whereby said link may be adjusted longitudinally relative to the head 30 and additional apertures 47 may be formed within each link so as to enable the brace 45 to be adjusted relative thereto and thus hold the tines 44 at any desired angles to the arms 41. It is preferred" to have the tines so positioned that when arms 41 are in their normal or horizontal positions, the said tines will converge downwardly with their points close together, as shown in Fig. 2.

' Slidably mounted within the head'30 and directly above the pawls 38 are releasing rods 48 connected, at their upper ends, to a plate 49 provided with a central projection 50. The rods 48 have collars 51 which can be in the form of nuts and these collars bear downwardly on springs 52 which, in turn, are supported by the head 30. Consequently rods 48 are yieldingly supported out of con- I tact with the pawls 38.

When it is desired to use the grabherein described, the same is positioned above the pile of material to be conveyed and the cable 28 is then wound so as to elevate the grab and bring the projection 50 against the trip 27 This will cause the rods 48 to be pushed downwardly against the laterally extending fingers of the pawls and. the said pawls will be shifted so as to move,

out of engagement With the toothed bar 36. Consequently said bar will be free to slide downwardly between the strips 32, thereby allowing base 39 also to move downwardly.

Consequently the arms 41 will swing about their pivotal connections with links 43 and the tines will move away from each other as shown in Fig. 3. With the parts thus positioned, the grab is lowered until the tines ing upwardly against the base'39 and cansing the bar 36 to remain practically station ary during the continued downward movement of head 30 and the parts carried thereby. By now winding cable 28, the pawls 38, which have become disengaged from the spring supported rods 48, will engage the toothed bar 36 and hold it against downward movement relative to the strips 32 so thatthe base 39 will be locked to strips 32 and the tines 44, which have moved into the pile during the upward movement of the base 39 and the downward movement of head 30 and links43, will thus be locked in engagement with the accumulated material.

and will lift said material. The conveying apparatus can then be moved to the point of delivery whereupon the head 30 can be elevated farther by the cable 28 to bring the pro ection 50 against the strip 27 whereupon the rods 8 will be forced down against the laterally extending fingers of the pawls 38 and the toothed bar will be released as before described and the load dropped from the tines.

\Vhat is claimed is 1. In apparatus of the class described, a frame, a cable connected thereto'for raising and lowering the same,-a ratchet bar mounted to slide within the frame, radial arms pivotally mounted and movable with the bite into the material, said material press.

bar, load engaging members fixedly connected to said arms, link connections between the outer ends of the arms and the frame, means upon the frame for engaging the bar to hold said bar against downward movement and the load engaging members in load supporting position, a tripping element in the path of the frame, and means carried by the frame and movable against the tripping element for disengaging the ratchet bar to shift the loading engaging elements apart.

2. In apparatus of the class described, a frame, means for raising and lowering the frame, a ratchet bar slidably mounted in the frame, load engaging devices pivotally connected to the ratchet bar, links connecting said devices to the frame, a paWl carried by the frame and normally engaging I the ratchet bar to hold said bar in raised position relative to the frame and to hold the load engaging devices in load retaining position, a yieldably supported tripping ele ment slidably mounted in the frame, and means operated by the final upward pull of the frame for depressing said element against the pawl to release the ratchet bar.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of tWo- Witnesses.

HENRY B. HESTER. lVitnesses:

JUSTIN F. GLADIEUX, ADOLPH DE B. LUPKI.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. O. 

